Operation Valentine's Day
by Huggable-Fanatic
Summary: What's a Marauder to do on Valentine's day? Well when a Hogsmeade trip is scheduled the oprtunities are endless! JP/LE story, with Marauder fun added in. Rated R for Swearing. THIS WILL ME A MULTI-PART STORY BUT WILL BE FINISHED THIS WEEKEND!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it**

**Summary: What's a marauder to do on Valentine's day? Well with a Hogsmeade trip scheduled the opportunities are endless.**

**Rating: R-rated for swearing**

'James Potter, I'm gonna kick your fucking arse!' came the scream of one Sirius Black. James doubled over in laughter at the sight of his best friend. He had decided to wake Sirius up to tell him his master plan for wooing one Lily Evans but he seemed to be impossible to wake that morning. So, maybe it was James' fault for keeping Sirius up until 4 in the morning exploring the forbidden forest. But his plan was important so he figured he'd have to take the plunge and do something drastic. So Sirius Black had been rudely awoken by a bucket of ice cold water.

To be fair, that was actually Peter's fault. Peter whose father was a muggleborn had suggested Peter take them to see a muggle movie the summer before and ever since James had felt that he needed to find a situation in which to use the water bucket idea.

'Okay, I know your probably really pissed off right now, but come on Sirius, it's important.' But Sirius didn't say a single word in reply he simply glared with his wet hair sticking oddly to his head before lunging at James who ran straight out the room at top speed. Sirius may well have been the stronger of the two but James was faster by far.

He ran down the stairs, knocking over unsuspecting first years in the process. As he ran through the Common Room he couldn't help but laugh, the younger students were still not entirely used to the Marauders antics and looked horrified to see James being chased by an angry Sirius Black who was firing random spells in James direction from the bottom of the stairway as James had jumped through the portrait whole at top speed.

How was he ever going to explain his plan to Sirius if Sirius was intent on hexing him? He needed to calm Sirius down, or be somewhere where Sirius wouldn't dare hex him. It was times like this that James didn't appreciate Sirius' disrespect for rules as there would be few safe places in the school.

He continued running as he thought of where to go but Sirius wasn't as far behind as James had first thought he would be.

Sirius was surprisingly fast when angry. Taking a right then turning left he ran straight into the library, Sirius wouldn't dare hex him in the library if he found Remus. After all, he wouldn't risk getting Remus being temporarily banned from the library after the last time.

He was in luck. His light-haired friend was currently sitting at one of the long tables, head bent over his potions homework as Peter explained something to do with the right way to crush some form of root. James had slowed down slightly once in the library to avoid angering the librarian but rushed forward to the table before sitting right by Remus' side and leaning towards him.

'Morning Moony, Wormtail' he said breathlessly.

'You've been running haven't you?' Remus enquired with a raised eyebrow. 'What have you done?' he added casually whilst turning back to his homework.

'Don't know what you mean Moony' He replied in an attempted casual voice. Remus simply made a disbelieving noise in return.

'And where might I ask, is Padfoot?' James was just away to reply when they were cut off by an angry looking Sirius who dropped down into the seat opposite from Remus and James still soaking wet and in his shorts and t-shirt that he had worn to bed.

'You are dead as soon as we leave this room Potter!' He growled unhappily. Peter was trying to stifle his laughter behind his hand and Remus-who had resolved not to laugh at his friend's state-was wearing a small smirk.

'Now Padfoot, surely you didn't forget to take your clothes off before washing?' Remus teased. Sirius mouth opened wide in offence in a childlike manner before pointing at James huffily.

'That...That IDIOT-'

'-Voice down Pads' Remus said calmly.

'He threw a bucket of water on me,' he hissed. 'Like in that goddamn muggle thing we went to!' As if dawning on him he turned to Peter with a glare'

'It's not my fault Padfoot!' Peter squeaked. 'I took him to the movie I didn't tell him to copy it.'

'It's not his fault Pads' Remus cut it. 'What I don't understand is why he would throw a bucket of water over you.' He contemplated before turning to James. 'Surely you would have realised that he would not appreciate the gesture.'

'I was trying to wake him up but he kept turning away from me.' James said simply as if it was perfectly normal to do such a thing. Remus rolled his eyes at his friend.

'And what was so important that it couldn't wait until he woke up?'

'Today is the day that I plan on stealing Lily Evans heart forever.' James said dramatically, pretending to sway back and forward in a dream like state.

'I got soaked because you wanted to tell me another _fool proof_ plan.' Sirius spat unbelievingly. James squirmed slightly under Sirius' look of anger.

'I thought that since you were my best friend and all that you'd want to help.' He tried putting on a pout.

'Leave the pouting to Pads, Prongs' Peter laughed. 'It looks ridiculous on you'

'He's right you know,' Remus added. 'There's no point trying to outdo Sirius' puppy pout.

'Yeah, well he has an unfair advantage.' James huffed.

It was then that they got shooed out of the library by a very unhappy librarian who looked close to tears at the prospect of her library being wet due to Sirius.'

'You know after everything that's happened over the years I'm surprised that she ever lets us in the library.' Peter commented.

But James wasn't interested he was too busy watching for the tell-tale signs that Sirius would attack.

'No worries Prongs' Sirius grinned evilly. 'I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to get revenge when you least expect it instead. Far more interesting that way, don't you think?'

'No, Padfoot, hex me now...please' James rushed. He didn't want to have revenge enacted on him. He was away to woo Lily, and the last thing he needed was a potentially embarrassing prank pulled on him in front of her. Or what if he managed to get a date with her and Sirius managed to make him grown tentacles or something.

'See Prongs, much more fun' He grinned. 'I'm off to get changed, see you lot in the Great Hall?'

'Sure thing, see you there' Remus said.

'No!' James shouted causing everyone in the corridor to stare at the group. 'He's gonna get me Moony, you need to go with him! You can't leave him along to get up to stuff!'

'Calm Prongs, I solemnly swear that I will not do anything okay Prongsie' Sirius teased.

'And I solemnly swear that _you _are up to no good!' James declared.

'Fine, fine, fine' Remus cut in. 'I'll go with Pads, you go get something to eat and gawp at Lily until we get there.'

'Okay' He agreed and the two headed towards the Great Hall it wasn't until the other two were already out of sight that he realised something. 'I DO NOT GAWP A LILY!' He hollered in hope that the others would hear and apparently they could because James could hear a roar of laughter coming from the direction they had went.

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and it's nice to know if people have enjoyed my stories **

**Reviews are much appreciated so click the review button people :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it**

**Summary: What's a marauder to do on Valentine's Day? Well with a Hogsmeade trip scheduled the opportunities are endless.**

**Rating: R-rated for swearing**

James headed into the Great Hall with a sigh. There was no way he could happily carry out his plan to woo Lily with the prospect of Sirius sabotaging it hanging over him. In hindsight throwing a bucket of water on Sirius had not helped in the slightest and he doubted Sirius would help him out much now.

He was, in fact, so caught up in his thoughts that he sat down next to Lily Evans and began helping himself to some toast.

'What are you doing?' the redhead asked looking curious.

He caught completely caught off guard by Lily who he had failed to notice he had sat beside-wow he must be really off in another world he thought to himself-she was looking at him as if he was insane. She stated on many times that James was not to irritate her during breakfast.

'I figured since it was Valentine's day we should eat together.' He said coolly, that would make up for his error he thought gladly.

'Well, you thought wrong Potter. Now please, leave me alone!' she said in annoyance.

'As you wish Lily,' he said with a false smile before heading further up the table to where Peter was still standing and pulled the boy down onto the bench beside him. 'You could have stopped me Wormtail' He found himself complaining wildly.

The other boys had soon made their way down to breakfast-Sirius decidedly less wet he thought to himself with a suppressed grin.

'So this plan of yours-' Remus started.

'-Will fail' Sirius said in a bored tone. James stuck his tongue out as his fellow marauder. He'd have to keep a mental note that Sirius should not be kept up all night as he was being a most unsupportive friend.

'Actually I was thinking-'

'-that you would fail?'

'Padfoot!' he whined unhappily.

'Prongs!' he retorted in a similar tone.

'Why am I not surprised to hear the two of you whining like five year olds' came Lily's voice from behind them.

'Lily' James said turning quickly in his seat. 'So I was thinking, me and you could-'

'-No' she said simply without waiting for a question. 'I was actually he hear to talk to Remus,'

'Remus has people to talk to already; your service isn't needed petal.' Sirius said plainly.

'Pads, be nice' Remus cut in with an eye roll. 'Sorry Lily, he didn't get much sleep last night.'

'So that's why he looks such a state.' She said as if just clicking pieces together.

'Take that back!' Sirius shot.

'No I won't' she retorted.

'Remus' he whined unhappily. 'I don't look a state, do I?' he said awaiting confirmation.

'No Pads, you look perfectly fine. Lily, please try not to wind him up.' He said with a sigh. Lily simply laughed in return and continued:

'So, I was thinking I don't really have much to do today. Fancy coming with me to Hogsmeade?'

'He's going to Hogsmeade with us, aren't you Remus.' Sirius said stubbornly.

'I did say I'd go with them Lily' He apologised. 'Unless they don't mind, after all there's a group of them and you would be on your own otherwise.'

'No!' Sirius complained in a slightly higher voice. 'Remus this isn't fair, first she stole James without even taking him anywhere and now she's actually trying to take you away too. She's an evil flower Remus; she's trying to break up the marauders!'

'I think you're being slightly dramatic Pads' Remus said with a smile.

'You could always come along with us?' Peter piped in. 'That way everyone's got what they want.'

'Well?' Remus asked.

'I suppose so,' she said warily. 'But I won't be held responsible if I am forced to hurt either of the two clowns.' She warned before heading to get ready for Hogsmeade.

James was shocked beyond belief. This was so completely unfair, sure he should probably be happy he was going to be in Lily's company all day but all he could think of was that Remus and Peter had managed in minutes what James had been attempting for...well forever it seemed. They had got Lily to go to Hogsmeade with him. Well, not him specifically but it was close enough.

Sirius continued to gape, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

'You okay Padfoot?' James asked curiously.

'No! This isn't fair, she's going to ruin my marauder time!' he argued. James just laughed at his best friend and turned to Remus.

'You know I don't know what you can do to make it up to him' he said lightly. 'he seems quite annoyed.'

'Well, considering you are planning on wooing Lily and keeping her around for good it looks like Sirius will have to just get used to her presence.'

'I do not!' he complained loudly.

'Let's go sit outside while Prongs goes and spruces up for Lily.' Remus suggested to the other two boys.

'Who said I need to spruce up' James accused.

'He means to let you attempt to fix your hair.' Peter laughed. James patted his hair a bit, sure it was messy but there wasn't much he could do about it. Other than try to make it seem naturally messy (which it already was)-but in a nice way.

'Come on Pads' Remus called, walking towards the door with Peter.

'I'm coming, I'm coming.' He grumbled and as James walked in the direction of the boys' bathrooms he could hear Sirius muttering:

'Stupid flower'

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and it's nice to know if people have enjoyed my stories **

**Reviews are much appreciated so click the review button people :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, I wish I did but unfortunately everything belongs to JKR and whoever else have rights to it**

**Summary: What's a marauder to do on Valentine's Day? Well with a Hogsmeade trip scheduled the opportunities are endless.**

**Rating: R-rated for swearing**

James was feeling extremely lucky. When he came down the boys' stairway in Gryffindor Tower he had seen Lily walking out the portrait hole and had sprinted quickly to catch up with her.

For once she had to allow him to walk with her; after all she was going to Hogsmeade with the group and wouldn't want to seem rude.

They made their way out of the school in a semi-uncomfortable silence with the occasional awkward comment.

'I'm not happy Remus, it'll ruin us.' Sirius was complaining loudly as he sat beneath the shade of the marauder favourite tree.

'Well, would you prefer the alternative?' Remus asked.

'No!' the dark haired boy shouted gaining the attention of all the other students. 'No,' he continued in a lower voice as James and Lily approached. 'That would be much worse.'

'Well then, you know the solution.' He replied calmly. 'Great, now that you two are ready we can get a move on' he said with a smile.

James had been quite surprised at how well the day was going. Aside from the occasional comments between Sirius and Lily things were going well. She had even joined in the conversations and laughter that the group was so casually tossing back and forward. Maybe Lily would realise that their group weren't all that bad. Surely she would need people to spend time with anyways; it wasn't as if she and Snape talked all that much anymore. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened considering she didn't stick up for him as much as she used to. She only really got involved when they took things too far.

Even James could see at that they had times took things too far with Snape. Ever since the whompping willow incident James had been acutely aware that things had gotten extremely out of control. He wondered when exactly it had changed from silly pranks to extreme humiliation and potentially dangerous situations. Snape could easily have been killed that night and even when Sirius had felt guilt it had been solely for putting Remus in trouble. He hadn't even seemed bothered at the damage that could have been done to Snape, as if he wouldn't mind if he had died. A few years previously he would have said it completely uncharacteristic of Sirius and he couldn't understand the change.

'Prongs mate' he found the other black haired boy calling as he waved a hand in front of the others face. He had that oh so familiar goofy grin on his face. 'You look kind of spaced mate.'

'Sorry, was away in my own head.' He apologised. To look at Sirius now you would assume him harmless; when he was alone with the other marauders without Slytherins or groups of students about he was a completely different person.

The others were all staring at him curiously but he didn't have to endure their looks for long however, as they had reached Hogsmeade.

'So where to first' Lily asked uncertainly.

'Well I don't know about you lot but I want to go for a wander...towards the shrieking shack.' Sirius said. James knew instantly that something was going on. They, as a principle, didn't venture near the shrieking shack apart from on the full moon.

'Why don't we just go to Honeydukes?' James suggested. 'Bet your running short on chocolate by now huh Remus' he asked the pale boy who shook his head in reply.

'I'm not too bad actually; Sirius shared his with me so my own supply has barely been touched.' James knew this to be a lie. Firstly Sirius didn't tend to share well and secondly even with their frequent night time trips to Honeydukes Remus still managed to run out of chocolate.

It was clear that Sirius knew that James had figured something was going on. There was no way that James would think this to be a casual idea, he knew them far too well for that. Then it dawned on him, Sirius had something planned. He was going to get revenge on him for the water incident earlier that day.

'Well why don't you two go see the shrieking shack and we can go to Honeydukes.' He said triumphantly nodding towards Peter. But Peter shook his head;

'I want to go see the shrieking shack!' Ah, so Peter was in on it too. Well he wasn't going to fall into their trap

'I'll come with you,' Lily said quickly with a glance towards the shrieking shack. He was quite taken aback by this but gave a nod of agreement.

'See you guys soon for a butterbear?' James called behind him questioningly.

'Sure thing Prongs, we won't be too long!' Sirius called back.

'So....' James began awkwardly. 'You sure you want to be seen walking the streets of Hogsmeade with me? I mean, won't it ruin your reputation?' he teased lightly.

'And what reputation would that be?' she laughed.

'The reputation of being the only girl in Hogwarts currently unaffected by my charms.' He joked.

'Maybe I'm not all that bothered about my reputation.' She replied back challengingly.

'Interesting theory.' he replied with a false of puzzlement on his face. Lily gave a chuckle at this and he felt his heart soar. Maybe it wasn't as hard as he had thought to get her attention. Now that he was talking to her normally and not showing off desperately for her attention she didn't seem repulsed by his presence. He'd have to thank Peter for suggesting the group go to Hogsmeade together, it had helped make the conversation flow more naturally between him and Lily and he no longer felt as uncomfortable as before.

'So, why Honeydukes?' he asked.

'What do you mean?' Lily replied with a furrowed brow.

'Well, why didn't you want to go to the shrieking shack with the others?'

'Oh, I guess it's just...well I assume you know that Remus told me about his...well...' She began awkwardly.

'Furry little problem?' he found himself suggesting. Lily brow furrowed once more before letting out an entirely different laugh to any he had heard from her in all the years he had known her. It was a proper belly laugh and she had tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

'That has got to be the strangest way possible of describing it.'

'I could probably think of stranger with more time.' He laughed. She gave a weak smile before continuing;

'Well, I just...don't feel comfortable going near that place now that I know.'

'I thought you were okay with it.' James accused suddenly feeling protective of his friend.

'That's not what I meant!' she exclaimed before lowering her voice once more. 'I just don't like to think about it, it must be so horrible...how can the others stand to hang around it so casually? Knowing what he goes through there, it just creeps me out a bit I guess.'

'They don't usually; normally we avoid the place like the plague.' He said truthfully. 'I have a feeling they were up to something.' He admitted. 'That's why I didn't want to go with them, I kind of angered Sirius earlier and he's out for revenge.'

'Ah, well it's probably best you avoided him then.' She agreed with a small smile.

'I know that I said we should go to Honeydukes and all but, well...do you wanna just head straight for a butterbeer?' he asked. She stopped straight in her tracks looking unsure and he got the feeling that he may have took a leap to far. They were finally talking and he had ruined it.

But he was pleasantly surprised by her reply;

'Like a date?' She replied, a small smile playing gracefully on her lips.

'Not if you don't want it to be.' He said somewhat self-consciously.

But she just smiled in reply.

'Surprisingly I think I was wrong about you James, and...I think I'd like that. So long as you don't go bragging off about it.' She said, her voice laced with warning.

He grinned happily back at the red-head as they reached their destination, before rushing forward to open the door for her. Gaining himself another smile from the slightly embarrassed looking girl.

Little did he know that three other marauders were currently outside where they had just stood swapping high-fives and grinning from ear to ear-for the most part.

'You know we did the right thing setting them up.' Peter said joyfully.

'Yeah but now we're gonna have less time with Prongs.' Sirius huffed with a pout.

'But when he _is _with us he won't be thinking of ways to ask her outor making a fool of himself.'

'I suppose so...' Sirius agreed in a resigned voice. 'So...' he continued. 'now that Operation Valentine's Day is complete does that mean we can get us some stuff from Honeydukes, I think Mr Moony owes Mr Padfoot some chocolate after raiding through Mr Padfoots stash.'

'I was finished mine.' Remus replied quickly trying to justify his actions. 'Oh fine, but I do believe Mr Padfoot should buy because he bet Mr Moony that Mr Prongs would not manage to get himself a date with Miss Evans before the school year was out.'

'Dammit Moony!' He complained loudly causing many people to look around the street in a rather confused manner.

'You'd think they'd never seen someone in an invisibility cloak.' Sirius laughed.

'You do realise that that's kind of the point of the cloak Pads.'

'Your point being...?' But what Mr Moony's point was we may never know.

**So it wasn't quite finished in time for Valentine's Day, but it was finished in the early hours of the morning the next day. All I can say is that Monopoly can last a very long time when six people are playing and that I should have known better than to get so involved when I'd made a promise to my readers. :P**

**Thanks for reading, writing means a lot to me and it's nice to know if people have enjoyed my stories **

**Reviews are much appreciated so click the review button people :P**

**-Huggable-Fanatic- x**

**Thanks to my first reviwer for this story:**

**Ellie49**

**Reviews are always appreciated as it gives my an idea of what people want to read most :)**


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